Jon Joseph

ASU? Who knew?

People are climbing on board the Playoff Committee to better value a team's Strength of Schedule come 2024. With mega-conferences and the degree of schedule difficulty varying significantly intra-conference, the CFB Committee needs to sort through schedule strength as doe the Basketball Committee. The Basketball Committee uses uniform SOS metrics. The CFB Committee instead of leaving the determination of SOS in the mind of Committee members, needs to do likewise. CFB needs a measure of objectivity from a Committee that is moving around multi-millions of dollars every season without any public scrutiny of the process except vague, 'this is how the Committee works' pap. If the CFB Committee only values wins and losses, better teams with lesser records will likely be left out of the Playoff field. One reason the B1G's Tony Petitti and Greg Sankey, want alloted slots for several B1G and SEC teams. Why College Football Playoff needs modified system to evaluate contenders amid expansion into 12-team era - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Simply evaluating teams based off top-25 wins will no longer be enough as the field balloons in 2024

Nebraska's Matt Rhule is solidifying his vision entering year 2: 'It's been night and day' THEATHLETIC.COM One month from Saturday, players at Nebraska will return to the practice field.

Latest ruling against NCAA paints radical future for NIL deals WWW.YARDBARKER.COM On Friday, a federal judge in Tennessee landed a massive blow to the NCAA, suspending name, image and likeness restrictions for athletes.

Oklahoma football: Expanding playoff could grow likelihood of SEC-Big Ten showdown STORMININNORMAN.COM As the Oklahoma football program relocates to a new conference home as part of another seismic movement in conference realignment, the College Football Playoff

NCAA can't enforce NIL rules after judge grants injunction - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM A federal judge has barred the NCAA from enforcing its rules prohibiting NIL compensation from being used to recruit athletes, granting a request for a preliminary injunction and dealing another...

More from The Athletic's Stewart Mandel. Mandel: Party’s over, NCAA. Recruiting pay-for-play is here, and it was inevitable THEATHLETIC.COM A federal judge granted another blow to the NCAA by, at least temporarily, prohibiting rules against NIL pay-for-play in recruiting.

How Does Oregon Compare to the Big Ten Conference? (BTW Oregonian, it's the Big 10 Conference.) Smaller? (Kidding!) Athletic Department spending 9th and Football spending 10th = a darn good ROI; success on the football field beyond the investment. Revenue 9th. Even as a Junior Partner revenue will increase and then come 2032? Puddles will be flying financially high.

Of course, The Cascade Clash made the list. 10 Most Anticipated Rematches of the 2024 College Football Season BLEACHERREPORT.COM It's never too early to start looking ahead at the best games of the 2024 college football season. As the season gets closer, there are plenty of big…

Bleacher Report 'Gets It.' With CFB's 12-Team Playoff Set, the Format Is Poised to Bring the Game to New Heights BLEACHERREPORT.COM On Tuesday, the College Football Playoff confirmed the inevitable. With the Pac-12 essentially dissolving, the shiny new postseason that will begin this…

Only three minor issues to be resolved, right? Access, Distribution, and Governance. What could go wrong? CFP officials discuss expanding to 14-team playoff in 2026 - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM CFP executive director Bill Hancock said the idea of a 14-team College Football Playoff starting in 2026 was discussed at Wednesday's meeting in Dallas but added, "There's work still to...

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey lobbying for earlier signing day, recruiting dead period through December - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The SEC is spearheading an effort to clean up the winter schedule

Thanks, Steven, P4 and G5 football needs these folks why? Stay in for the tourney but also take CBB oversight and regulation away from the NCAA. These folks will figure out new ways to get sued and lose. Where is NCAA Prez Charlie Baker who proposed a separate division? The suits by the Florida and Tennessee AGs may be a turning point. One thing to have former jocks sue you and another for Attorney Generals backed by state money to sue you. Arrogant, Ignorant, and Totally Tone Dead. No Clue About Anything.

It has been proposed that early signing day be moved to December 4th so as not to conflict with the early portal entry date. CFB knows it has to do something to help coaches out in December but is this enough? College football early signing period expected to move earlier in December THEATHLETIC.COM The signing period would give athletes time to sign NLIs after the conclusion of their high school seasons and just before the portal opens.

Oregon is ranked in the 5 teams due to win a CFB title. https://collegefootballnews.com/rankings/5-teams-overdue-to-win-a-national-title-expanded-college-football-playoff

On the other hand - Mandel: Discussing 14 teams … already? CFP is fixing something that isn't broken THEATHLETIC.COM CFP executives discussed expanding to a 14- or 16-team format for 2026 and beyond in meetings Wednesday.

Solar, the top 2 ranked SEC teams, and the top 2 ranked B1G teams will play in the conference champ games beginning in 2024; no divisions in the B1G and the SEC. All 4 will be a 12-team PO lock. And would you prefer a Committee including many folks without B1G and SEC ties to make the seeding determination on which of the top 2 B1G and top 2 SEC teams deserve the higher seeds? Conference hamp games are built into the B1G media deal through 2031 and the SEC media deal through 2034 and are likely to draw even larger viewing audiences with a 1st round bye in 2024/25 on the line and for seeding purposes in 2026 and thereafter even with a 16-team playoff field. Another reason to have champ games in the B1G and the SEC is the difference in SOS you will see in intra-conference scheduling in 2 mega-conferences season after season.

Solar, to answer your question, the B1G and SEC will play without divisions beginning in 2024. The two teams in the conference champ games will be the 2 top-ranked teams in the conference. I expect that the top 2 B1G and 2 SEC teams vying for a conference title season after season will be ranked by the Committee in the top 10. In 2023 using the final committee rankings, Michigan finished No.1, UW No. 2, Texas No. 3, and Alabama No. 4. All 4 would have been in the PO as would conference champ game losers Georgia and Oregon. I think Tony Petitti thought the suggested format through before presenting it and ran it by 'consortium friend' Greg Sankey before bringing it to the CFB playoff committee. I think it makes sense. Especially, when you look at the teams that competed in the 4-team playoff. IMO, 10 automatic bids for conference champs is a non-starter. Drop the G5 from the PO altogether and how much money would be lost if a P4, or even a B1G/SEC 'world series,' was played postseason? The tail is no longer going to wag the PO dog. Petitti and Sankey do not want folks on the PO Committee outside of the P2, derailing B1G and SEC participants as a matter of 'equity.' The teams that invest the most capital into football deserve the best ROI.

Don't Worry, Be Happy. Over the top 5-7 concerns from Autzen Zoo. What does this guy not understand regarding Oregon having better recognition and brand appeal in the B1G? The 2024 schedule is tough, no doubt. But tougher than getting through last season's Pac-12? In 2025, Oregon will not play Michigan or Ohio State. The 2 toughest B1G road games are Iowa, Penn State, and UW. The toughest home games are Oklahoma State, USC, and Wisconsin. The difficulty of the schedule will vary year-to-year but Oregon benefits from a 5-7 format and also benefits from being in the B1G. Will the Oregon Ducks even benefit from the new 5-7 CFP format? AUTZENZOO.COM As Oregon heads to the Big Ten, will the team be able to benefit from the new 5-7 format?

As reported by Yardbarker and other sources, a 14-team playoff beginning in 2026 and through the 2031 seasons has been proposed by the B1G. The B1G's Tony Petitti would not have suggested this format without running it by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. Of course, the CFB freaks are freaking out! "This will ruin the regular season!" A 14-team playoff would equal the number of teams that play in the NFL playoff; a league with 32 teams (the B1G/SEC now have 34 teams). In theory, college football has 134 teams contesting for a spot in the playoff. The last time I looked, NFL stadiums were not empty during the regular season. Unlike 'The U,' the Dolphins sell out the stadium for home games. Boston College games feature many empty seats disguised as fans, even with the Patriots sucking wind post-Brady, Pats games sell out. I think that a 14-team PO format would follow the NFL model. 14 works in the NFL where the top No.1 seeded NFL team and the No.1 seeded AFL team have a 1st round bye. 3 'Wild Card Games' are played intra-conference between teams seeded No. 2 through No. 6. Would this be the format in CFB? And if not, how would a 14-team bracket work? (HELP ME Math Jocks!) If the NFL model was followed, in 2023, Michigan and Washington would have received 1st-round byes. Petitti's proposed format would have 2 B1G teams and 2 SEC teams automatically qualifying. Presumably, the 2 teams that played in the respective conference champ games. Remeber that come 2026, only a majority vote and not a unanimous vote has to be cast to approve the 2026 and going forward playoff format. The 'voters' have been reduced from 9 conferences and Notre Dame to 10 conferences and Notre Dame. In reality, the B1G/SEC are the only 2 conferences that could hold a playoff including only B1G and SEC teams and make bank anywhere close to the $1.3 B expected from 2026 to 2031. 2031 is not coincidental, it is the year that the current B1G media deal will expire. Floated 14-team College Football Playoff could have opposite effect than intended WWW.YARDBARKER.COM The more the CFP committee tinkers with its format, the more it's taking away from the excitement of every weekend being its own playoff. The new playoff format will follow the B1G/SEC money.

Friend NJ Duck has this article posted on the B1G Predictions Thread. No surprise here, NJ is the posting wizard. I wanted to take a deeper look into these rankings. First, these are Recruiting Rankings only and not Composite Roster Rankings that use transfer portal as well as recruiting data. For this article, Athlon Sports used 247 Sports rankings; 247 Sports will not release its final Combined 2024 Roster Rankings before the 2nd go round of players entering the portal, after spring practice for the majority of teams, and impact players in particular, transferring to new teams. A possible post-spring transfer situation. This spring the Ohio State QB room will include 2nd team All-B12 QB Will Howard and two true Frosh QBs rated 5* recruits by at least one site that ranks recruits: Justin Sayin and Air Noland. Will all three of these guys stick around post-spring? Just Sayin'. Over the last 5 seasons, 11 B1G teams, Ohio State, Michigan, OREGON, Penn State, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, USC, UW, Michigan State, and UCLA have winning records. Iowa ranked No. 7 in recruiting has punched well above its weight class with a 53-22 record. But will this success continue now that the B1G has dropped divisions? No. 4 ranked Penn State went 52-22, will this improve now that the East Division is gone and having to play both Michigan and Ohio State every season will not be on the schedule? All four newcomers from the Pac-12 are among the 11 with winning records including No. 2 ranked OREGON, 57-18, which has the third-best win total behind defending B1G and National champion Michigan's 67-14 and Ohio State's rather remarkable 66-9. Special Note: USC is ranked No. 9. (Nine! Nein!) Behind Nebraska, Maryland, Iowa, and Wisconsin. USC's record is 41-29. Yet, it's USC that draws the majority of media attention as the 4 Pac-12 newbies enter the B1G. Once a Blue Blood always a Blue Blood? And the LA location does nothing to diminish the love for the Trojans. One should not discount out-of-hand 'development' programs. Michigan State with the No. 10 ranking is 36-34 over the last 5 seasons and J. Smith could be the perfect coach to get Sparty back on track. And 17 Northwestern? All these Wildcats did in the 2023 bowl season was travel to Las Vegas and out-smash-mouthed smash-mouth Utah in a 14-7 victory. 7 B1G teams finished 2024 recruiting ranked in the top 25, OREGON, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, USC, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. Not bad. However, 13 of 16 SEC schools finished in the top 25. Is it August 31st yet? Vandalize the Vandals!

This in-depth look at how FSU could raise the money to buy its way out of the ACC references B1G, Oregon, and UW. In particular, as to the NW schools, Oregon's, and UW's right under the B1G agreement for each school to borrow $10M from the conference against future earnings. A 'tide me over' line of credit before the two NW schools become full partners in 2031/32. The author, who is wired into FSU believes, based on this article, that FSU is more likely to head to the B1G than to the SEC. FSU is doing everything it can to become an AAU member. Both US World News and Forbes rank FSU academics well above private school Miami's ranking. And, FSU plays football on campus. Like Notre Dame, FSU is a school that would be accretive to the B1G's bottom line upon joining the conference and Fox would likely love to plant the flag in SEC country. ESPN with its broadcast deal with the ACC is conflicted if that matters to ESPN, from bidding against itself to bring FSU into the SEC and risking litigation from the ACC if it attempted to do so. FSU is doing all it can to extricate itself from the ACC's crummy media deal with ESPN. This is not directly a B1G issue today. But like the change to the 2024/25 Playoff format, the format going forward, and the new Playoff media deal if a future post-2025 Playoff format can be agreed to, future conference expansion chess moves will affect Oregon athletics. Adding say Notre Dame and FSU would not help with travel but would help the B1G's bottom line in the ongoing battle for college sports conference hegemony.

Like the good Sergeant, he knows Nothing!

David M, spot-on comments. Conference champ game broadcasts are built into today's media agreements. 2031 until the current B1G media deal expires. 2034 for the SEC. 2036 for the ACC. I'm not certain about the B12 deal. The champ games are lucrative. In general, I agree with your point. However, with conference expansion, the odds are better of having teams meeting in a champ game that did not meet in the regular season. There is also the likelihood of 2 and possibly more teams, tying at the top with the same number of conference wins and losses, Without a champ game, for seeding purposes how does the PO Committee decide which team to seed higher than the other(s)? This matters in a 12-team PO with seeds 5-8 playing a first-round home game. Go to 16 and the top 8 seeds play at home. I very much doubt that the Committee will want the responsibility of parsing the seeding for the top teams in the B1G and the SEC in particular. Home playoff games will mean money for the home team and the merchants in a given town. If the playoff continues to use the NY6 bowls, hosting a PO game may be a team's one chance to play in its region and not in Dixie. I think Champ Games will be with us until the end of the existing media deals if not longer.

As CFP meetings resume, the battle for control of the sport's future persists THEATHLETIC.COM Can leaders reach consensus on the details the CFP's future that have held up forward progress so far? And if not … what exactly happens?